Pumpkin bread

Or how to keep from eating at Coffee Central every day.

Lately I just can't seem to pack enough snacks for work. So sometime in the late afternoon with consults still to see and many notes still to write, I often find myself in our little coffeeshop for a quick snack. There's really only so many granola bars I can eat in a week and I want something quick and portable and by that time of day I've already eaten my morning snack, some yogurt, some fruit, and lunch. So tonight I decided to make pumpkin bread as my mid-afternoon snack. I've made many recipes but am always up for a new one and I would never think to actually bake anything by actually following a recipe start to finish but this is good so I wanted to remember approximately how I did it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup applesauce
1 can pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place applesauce, pumpkin puree, oil, egg in a large bowl. Beat with an electronic mixer on low speed.
Add flour, oats, almond meal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon.
Pour batter into loaf pan and bake until done.

An adaptation but it fits the goal of being healthy, filling, and tasty.

Homeschooling

Starting July 1st I'm taking the year off from medicine to spend it with the boys. I'm not sure what the future holds beyond that but we're really excited about the year ahead. This includes giving homeschooling a try. It's a bit daunting, particularly with a baby and a toddler in the mix, but very exciting. Mr. 8 actually asked how soon we can start - I was thinking of taking a bit of a break for summer but maybe we'll have a special summer elective. He also asked me if we could make computer programming part of our curriculum but I think that's going to have to be an evening/weekend Daddy elective. Immunology I can do - I think Mr. 8 knows much more about computer programming than I do already.

Given that I know there are at least 2 homeschooling moms that occasionally read this and an elementary school teacher, I thought I'd share what I have planned and would welcome any feedback. There's so many great looking curriculums and everything sounds so cool right now that I think I've chosen way too much.

For my 3rd grader:
Language Arts
Spelling: Spelling Workout C/D
Grammar: First Language Lessons 3
Writing: Write from dictation, Weekly writing assignment
- Possibly using The Complete Writer Level 3 or Writing Strands 3
Reading (30-60 minutes of free reading plus history literature)
- Reading to correlate with history: Beowulf (he loved Greek mythology), Chaucer, Shakespeare (Memorize Shakespeare sonnet)

History: Originally I thought we'd just go through the Story of the World but I really like Tapestries of Grace so I think I'm going to go with that. It has all levels and lots of reading options which I really like and is well-organized. I just have to make sure I don't try to do too much which I have been known to do.
- Story of the World, Volume II: The Middle Ages (400-1600)
- Kingfisher History Encyclopedia - I'd like to do some memorization, possibly rulers of England from Egbert to Elizabeth I or major wars and discoveries
- Make a timeline of 400-1600
- Other interesting reading: The Story of the Middle Ages - Christine Miller
- Geography: Memorize countries of the world
- Biographies

Math: He wants to move on to Algebra so I thought we'd try Borenson's Hands On Equations and then go from there. Harold Jacob's Elementary Algebra and Calculus By and For Young People were recommended so we may try those. I also bought The Life of Fred books (Decimals, Fractions, and Pre-Algebra) but I fear he's already found those and read them. I do want him to go back and work some of the problems with me just to make sure.

Science: Chemistry (his choice)
- Adventures with Atoms and Molecules (2 experiments per week)
- Experiment notebook
- Chemistry textbook

Bible: Study Judges to Kings (Veritas Press)

Languages: Spanish with Rosetta Stone (2 lessons weekly)

Languages: Latin
- The Big Book of Lively Latin (Primary Text)
- Prima Latina -> Latina Christiana I

Music: Piano lessons
- Classical composer per week (I'm very inspired by a certain Kansas mom)\

Art: Artistic Pursuits Grades K-3

Other books for free reading (stolen from Ambleside and Sonlight reading lists - it's long but he's a voracious reader and I thought this would give him some options)
The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Yonge
Bambi by Felix Salten
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
Little Britches series by Ralph Moody
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey
Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
Return To Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia Hale
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Tree of Freedom by Rebecca Caudill
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery (British view of revolution)
Justin Morgan had a Horse by Marguerite Henry
he Perilous Road - William O’Steele
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
The Heroes by Charles Kingsley
Pilgrim's Progress
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Children of the New Forest by F Marryat

For my 1st grader:

Language Arts
Spelling: Spelling Workout A
Grammar: First Language Lessons
Writing: Penmanship with Handwriting without Tears and weekly writing assignment
Reading
- Possible read alouds: The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill, Castle diary: the journal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt, The Minstrel in the Tower, The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
- Reading to correlate with history

History: Tapestries of Grace: The Middle Ages
- Story of the World, Volume II: The Middle Ages (400-1600)
- Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
- Make a timeline of 400-1600
- Other interesting reading: The Story of the Middle Ages - Christine Miller
- Geography: Memorize location of all states (he's actually pretty much done this thanks to the online states game so maybe he'll memorize countries too)

Math: At this point I'm leaning towards Singapore 1B but want to look at Math-U-See a bit more.

Science: Life Sciences (Animals, The Human Body, Plants) - his choice
- First Animal Encyclopedia (20 weeks): I think we'll memorize kingdoms
- The Kingfishers First Human Body Encyclopedia (10 weeks)
- Green Thumbs: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening (6 weeks)

Bible: Study Judges to Kings (Veritas Press)

Languages: Spanish with Rosetta Stone

Music: Piano lessons, Classical composer per week

Art: Artistic Pursuits Grades K-3

Suggested Additional Books for Free Reading
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
King of the Golden River by John Ruskin
Peter Pan by James M. Barrie
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pocahontas by Ingri D'Aulaire
Fifty Famous Stories Retold
Parables from Nature
Aesop's Fables
Just So Stories
A Child's Garden of Verses
Paddle to the Sea
James Herriot's Treasury
Viking Tales

Too much?

Zeus

 
 

We have a new pet in our house. Today Mr. 8 brought home the beetle he raised from a meal worm at school in science class. He loves science class and has a fantastic teacher that helps to fuel his love of science. For weeks we've been hearing about Zeus, sending apple slices to school on Thursday for him to eat, finding just the right container for him to live in. Mr. 8 has learned all about meal worms and beetles, their life cycle, and about insects in general. I'm told that beetles in captivity can live fo quite a long time if you take good care of them so Zeus may be with us awhile.

An unexpected naptime

 

Why is it that you never want to take a nap when you're small and never have time to take a nap when you're big?

Meeting our cousin

Over break we headed to Indianapolis to meet the newest member of our family. Given the our male-dominated, it was nice of my sister to add this beautiful little girl to the cousins. While ther we even managed to visit the Childrens museum, play at the park, and fly kites. We really appreciated all Aunt R and Uncle A's new space- particularly the big empty living room for playing in.

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I do it

It's actually good that I've pretty much memorized most of our favorite books since Mr. 2 must hold and "read" them but then wants me to tell him what each page says without me actually touching the book. Do you want to hear Sheep in a Jeep, Is Your Mama a Llama, Bear Snores On, or Freight Train - I have recent practice with those!

Happy Easter

 

Happy birthday Mr. 2

Asher turned 2 today which we celebrated with chocolate cake as requested (it seems we make a lot of chocolate cake in this family).

Asher says everything - he loves to tell you what is going on and to see you songs. Sometimes it's the imperial march and somtimes it's a little Asher song. He wants to do everything himself - and I do mean everything. He loves dinosaurs and trucks and books and his brothers. He knows there is a baby brother coming and will tell you there is a brother in Mommy's tummy. He loves tea and will run to get his mug if the word tea is mentioned. He loves to count but will rarely tell you the right color. He is a super fun guy and we love him to pieces!

Happy birthday Mr. 2!